


"Yet."

by Shintori_Khazumi



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Family, akko is lost, heck yeh, how long will it take for akko to come back from the grocery store with the milk, i can finally tag this as, i'm doing everyday on tumblr now it seems, initial run is over, keeping the chapter number open for the afterstory tho, mini-series, rated g for gosh I'm so sad, yay!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 9,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29020197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shintori_Khazumi/pseuds/Shintori_Khazumi
Summary: "Mummy, is mama coming home today?""Not yet, Love. Not yet."aka Diana's struggles of searching and waiting for her wife while distracting her ever-growing child.Mini-series i've now started on tumblr. Daily update of 100+words until who knows. (until Akko comes home)This is just for me to de-stress from all my anxiety... through angst.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Comments: 63
Kudos: 103





	1. Five Years

Five years. That's how long it had been since she'd gone missing. If there was anything the Head of the Cavendish household had learned during that time, it was that that was enough of a duration for her to be driven insane with the anxiety that the love of her life might just not come back.

"Mummy? Is Mama not home yet?" 

Ah, this tiny bundle of sunshine that was the spitting image of her; Diana should be overflowing with only love for the child, but all she could see was a ghost haunting her every waking moment as it did her dreams.

"Not yet, love. Not yet."


	2. Day 2154

Day two thousand, one hundred, and fifty-four. 

Approximately five years, ten months, and twenty-nine days.

She still wasn’t home.

“Where... are you...” She whispered to the metal that gleamed under the moonlit night, lips ghosting over the words, “Shinjiru kokoro ga anata no mahou”.

What if... her heart couldn’t stand to believe any longer? Did that mean she'd lose one of the very essences of her magic? Did it even matter anymore? She'd already lost the one who held it, so it was no issue to lose her heart as well.

"What about today, mummy?"

"No." A tear. "Not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heck yeah, 100 words flat.


	3. Neither

Russet-dyed hair, wine-filled orbs, a believing heart.  
She had all her best features, and all her greatest charm.

But Diana hated this visage, staring interrogatively at her.  
Because alongside all those blessed traits was a cursed inheritance from herself: the sadness in her eyes, and the brokenness of her soul.

She was young, but she was clever. She was young, and in need- in search- of her mother.   
The mother Diana knew she could not be. What she did know was that her daughter always snuck out, right as the stars opened their eyes to watch o'er the child in the dead of night; just as they did for _her_.

“Do you know where mama is?”  
“I don’t know that yet.”

_**"...me neither."** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just like 123 baby~, 123 words


	4. Go Home

It was a knock on the door that brought her out of the tunnel vision that she had trapped herself in. Then came A familiar voice. A friend.

“You need to stop working, Diana. Please get some rest. We'll continue the work.”

"No. Just a little longer."

"You haven’t been home in days." The continuous interruption made her eye twitch, blood boiling with impatience. She didn't have time for this. She needed to focus.

" **SHE** hasn’t been home in days. That’s why I’m trying so hard. So that we BOTH can be." The blonde spat, slamming her palms on the table, standing to her full intimidating height.

"Diana!" Annoying. Meddlesome. These people. They didn't understand. "What’s important is the NOW." She wanted to ignore the pained crack in Hannah's voice. Someone usually so sharp, she'd never imagined she could be this fragile.

"Your child needs you."

A Phone call. Another disturbance. Annoying. Annoying.

“ _Mum_?" Diana's heart broke at the word. At the knowledge of who was at the other end of the line. She didn't deserve to be what the existence of that child proved her to be. Not now. " _Are you coming home now? Aunt Lotte made dinner.”_

Pointedly ignoring the pressuring stares of her former teammates, she sat back down. And with a defeated voice, rejected the one who needed her the most once more.

"Not yet, sweetheart. Just a little bit more."

_**Not yet.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer than usual. Could not tie it in properly with 100 words


	5. Fourth Grade

Fourth grade.

She was already in fourth grade.

The class had a play coming up. She, as someone as excellent as her Mum, and the mama she barely remembered, was obviously chosen as the lead. She memorized her lines perfectly, voice clear and strong, acting passionately perfect.

But...  
\----------

Fourth Grade, her daughter was in fourth grade. How could she manage to forget that, along with the play that was starting in three minutes.

No, no, no. She had to get out of this meeting. But... but the search- they'd finally found a lead after all these years! She-

"This meeting is adjourned. It seems _some_ of us can no longer focus on the more important matters, such as retrieving one of our most valuable witches. There's no point in continuing."

Those jabs were likely thrown at her, but she couldn't care any less, jumping out of her seat and bolting for the door. Screw those people of the board. They were only helping her because her wife was an asset to the magical world, and she held powers beyond measure. They'd even be satisfied with just her dead body to dissect in the name of magical advancement.

So really, _fuck_ them.

Diana had a daughter. One she sadly just remembered a little too late.

\---------  
“Are all the parents here already? We will soon start our presentation.” The homeroom teacher asked, smiling at all the beautiful families around. It was so nice to see their bond- ...Feeling the tug on her dress, the older woman looked into pleading, lonely reds.

“C-can we wait a little longer, sensei? My mum isn’t here yet.”

"..." She wanted to say that that wasn't okay, that so many people were waiting already. But something compelled her to say, "...okay. We won't start just yet."


	6. "Kotone."

Thirteen.

What a tender age. They say it is the time wherein children start to rebel, and parents begin to cry. So why...

“...Why is my sweetheart crying?” Diana hesitantly approached the sobbing bundle knelt on her study’s floor, a hand shakily reaching out to pet soft chocolate tresses. She flinched as the wailing increased its volume, feeling her heart shatter; wanting to cry along with her. “M-mum... _Mummy_ ” She cursed the crack in her voice. She can’t be this vulnerable right now. She has to be strong for them both. “ _M-mum_... doesn’t know what to do when you’re... like this... haha...ha...”

“Mummyyy... Why didn’t she come home? When I won the school competition, when I played the lead... when I had my birthday today and finally became a teen... Mummy... does... DOES MAMA NOT LOVE ME AT ALL?!”

“ ** _Kotone_**.”

The way the girl froze, rigid in her embrace, the way she suddenly quieted in shock. Diana had made far too many trespasses against this girl.

“Y-you... you said... you... you didn’t call me... Child, or sweetheart, or anything... mum... you... you called my... you called my... my name!” She said, suddenly beaming, almost forgetting her pain. “Why?”

Diana returned her daughter’s joyous smile, her own teary one threatening to break. “To remind you that... your mama loves you. Because...” Kissing her child’s forehead, she whispered the revelation of a gift. “It’s the name she gave to you. The sound of your heart... the sound she loves the most in the world. Because it proves that you're alive. And you existing is all the reason she needs to love you. That's what your mama, Kagari Atsuko- no, Akko. Always said."

"Mum?"

"Hmm?"

"I'll keep waiting. And I'll never doubt Mama's love... even if she hasn't come home yet."

"Mm. Yet."

_She will come home. We believe with our believing hearts that..._

__

_**She will.** _


	7. "Wait For Me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: so how bout we end “Yet”’s first week with the person everyone has been wondering about! I’ll also post my Diakko day piece in a bit.

She remembered it as though it was yesterday, A yesterday just shy of five thousand yesterdays. It was a mess, it was a haze. Everything almost blurring out into the background. But she remembered. She still did.

“ _Were you able to do it?”_ _The old man asked. He looked chipper, sturdy for his age. He must have seen so much, experience more adventures than she had, comparing their years of experience out in the field._

“ _Not yet, but I’m pretty sure I’ll get it soon.” The brunette smiled, staring at the magic circle she’d drawn in the middle of the vast plot._

“ _Wishing you the best, missy.” The man pat her back, hand lingering just a bit. “I hope you find what you need soon. And get out. These parts aren’t safe for women like you.” His tone of voice had dropped lower, somehow his warning feeling like a threat._

‘ _Women like me, huh...’_

“ _I appreciate it.”_

_But even if it seemed daunting, despite the fears she desperately tried to swallow back, she’d do this. She’d accomplish the mission she’d been sent out to do._

_Taking out a locket from her pocket, she opened it up to see a miniature mirror image of her, and ocean blues that owned her heart and soul. “I miss you already.”_

_She was so close. So close_

“ _Wait for me. Diana, Kotone.”_

_She was so close. She just knew it._

_So why..._

_**Why couldn’t she find it yet.** _


	8. "Don't you want to?"

“You’ve been here awhile."

He wasn't wrong. A year was longer than she had initially expected. She'd told her wife she'd be gone a few months at most... her homecoming was well overdue. Still...

The brunette didn't even spare her host a glance, strapping up her boots, and throwing her bag over her shoulder.

"Always leaving at the crack of dawn, coming back late at night... what is it that you’re doing here, Missy." The old voice interrogated. Akko continued to pay him no mind. He'd ask that day after day, day after day relentlessly. It was almost bothersome.

She was trying to focus on a mission here! She was trying to get it over with as quickly as possibly; she could not allow herself to be distracted by wistful thoughts and unrealistic wishes because-

"Don’t you ever want to go home?"

Akko froze, rigid frame turning about to hold the man's inquisitive stare. "Of course I want to." Before he could cut her off, she continued. "But I can’t. Not until I finish this."

"And just what is it that you're here to finish?"

"It's none of your business." 

"Hmm... but really. You could always just go home. Sometimes you need to realize that there are things more important than others." He uttered, going back into the house, the door locking shut behind him.

The Japanese woman faced the reddening horizon, sun barely peeking out. The color reminded her of the eyes of her newborn, innocent and sweet. Unknowing of the world, and of her own mother. Of course Akko wanted to go home. More than anything. She wanted to be in her wife's arms, holding her family tight and never letting go. And yet...

"No... I can't give up now... I'm so close. No, _not yet_."


	9. How does the game end?

_**{** _ _**You should’ve just played dead... or not played at all.** _ _**}** _

A bloodied cough spilled past her lips as she glared at the otherworldly being looking down on her mockingly.

_**{**_ _ **This little game we play. T'was a pleasure, at the beginning.**_ _ **}**_ It shrugged it's unhuman form; light disappointment on its features turning into pressuring fury. _**{**_ _ **But now I've grown bored. You should just surrender your life to the fate you've already walked into.**_ _ **}**_

_'I’m not giving up, not with all the strength still left in this body. I can’t give up...'_

She couldn't even speak.

_**{** _ _**Haven’t you grown tired of this yet?** _ _**}** _

There was a weight pressed onto her back, as if she were being trampled on.

_**{**_ _ **I mean, one way or another, you're not coming out of this all fine. It's either I kill you, or... the little tool you're trying to take me will forever bind you to be just like us.**_ _ **B**_ _ **ut you wouldn't mind that, would you? You'd be just as we are. A legend- oh but you already fit that criteria, don't you, missile fighting girl?- to be consulted by foolish young witches who will have happened upon a tiny, little**_ _ **STICK**_ _ **.**_ **}** It angrily spat out. _**{**_ _ **So why don't you let me have it and we can all roam free?**_ _ **}**_

"...I-In your hands, that tool... not good... world destroyed."

_**{Says who?}** _

"If... you... have it... you'll break... balance between... your plane of exist...nc... ours..."

_**{Heh. And who told you that? Holbrooke? The little redhead who flies across the sky in fireworks?}** _

"...pro...tect world...."

_**{You can't even hear what I'm saying, lass. Well, nonetheless, it no longer matters. Sleep tight. I'll see you once you've awoken.}** _

"...protect... peo... friend..."

_**{-As one of us.}** _

"...the ones I... love."

She could feel it, a tingling feeling, an energy, branching out quite literally from her body. She was turning.

" _ **... Kotone..**_."

_I'm sorry_.

_**{Let me end your pain faster then.}** _

Before a reply could form, words died on her lips, the last thing she felt being a sharp pain in her abdomen.

And she bled.

_**"...Diana."** _


	10. The Voice I Hear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’ve been ignoring comments on this for a while to avoid slipping up and replying something that might ruin it for me hahaha. Sorry! I will get to it once the series is over!
> 
> Enjoy?
> 
> ~Shintori Khazumi

Sixteen was an age just as fragile as thirteen, wasn't it? Maybe even moreso.

A lot of things happen when you're sixteen; like entering high school, like meeting new friends, like destroying a missile.

...like meeting your wife.

But apparently...

"Mum?"

"Hmm? What is it, sweetheart?"

"Does she even exist?"

...not meeting your mother, it seemed.

It hurt. Diana hurt. She didn’t know how to answer that question. Even _she_ was beginning to question her sanity. Had Akko truly existed, were all these memories in her mind not mere figments of her imagination? How could Diana answer something she wasn't entirely sure about herself anymore.

"Wh-why do you ask?"

A question for a question. Ah, a cowardly move, yes, but far bolder than silence.

"Because Mum." The girl took in a deep breath, eyes closing then reopening, her entirety a spitting image of the person they doubted even existed. "She left. And I hadn’t had the slightest chance to even meet her yet."

Her daughter turned on her heel, heading straight for the study door. Diana couldn't feel her legs, strength no longer present there. She was so scared, so angered, so hurt. By who? By Kotone, her precious daughter? By Akko, the love of her life? Or really, was it just this whole situation that drove her over the edge?

"K-Kotone, wait!" She cried, senses regained as she scrambled out of her seat, spilling onto the floor with her legs buckled underneath her, a hand reaching after that retreating figure; a sense of dejavu overwhelming her as she watched the back of her child, just like a mirror of when Akko left so many years ago. "Please... _wait!_ "

The girl stopped, just as her hand gripped the cold doorknob. She wouldn’t even spare her mother a glance as she groveled on the cold wooden floor. Without even looking back, she replied.

**_"I don't know if I can anymore."_ **

The lock clicked shut and Diana was left alone. Again. To the sounds of nothing.

Or so she’d expected.

**'Please don't give up on me just yet.'**

Her head whipped around at the sound of the voice so alienly familiar. One she'd know anywhere. Was it even real? She did not know, nor did she care. It was hysteria and desperation creating a mess in her mind and soul, her actions rashly irrational, too immediate, not even thinking it through.

"AKKO! AKKO WHERE ARE YOU?! AKKO?!" Screaming like a madwoman, hollering into the emptiness of her room, Diana sobbed and wailed the name she had not called in so long. “Akko, are you here?!”

Quiet. Maybe she _had_ finally lost her marbles. Lost her sanity, but not her hope.

"AKKO!"

**'Please don't give up on me just yet.** '

"Akko! Then tell me! Where are you! Akko! Where are you?!" She looked about everywhere, eyes trailing over every space she was in. She clumsily stood up, running-not without a few hiccups in her step- towards the wall with the light switch, flipping everything open. She checked outside the windows, in the cabinets, everywhere, all the while calling out a name barely remembered, but never forgotten. “Akko!!”

**'Please don't give up on me just yet.'**

The voice repeated, fading more and more into the silence of the night.

"AKKO! NO! DON'T LEAVE YET! TELL ME!"

**'Please don't give up on me just yet.'**

"AKKO! If it's really you, tell me how I can find you! Akko!"

**'Please don't give up on me just yet.'**

_**"AKKO!"** _

_**Please don't give up on me. Not yet.** _


	11. The Lie of Wild Geese

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: These just get longer and longer, and I’m sorry. Please stick around everyone til the end ;-;
> 
> pls.
> 
> I promise I'm not a mean old author

  
She found out. She finally found out.

Nearly two decades later, and she now knew what was going on. Her feet trudged the carpeted hall with an unimaginable weight of wrath to the sounds of their thuds.

It was _her_. She was the one. How could she have not come to her sooner. Oh wait, she _had_ , but then she'd told her she knew nothing. Lies.

**LIES.**

“ _ **YOU**_. IT WAS YOU AGAIN!” Diana burst into the room, door banging against the opposite wall. “-WHO PUT HER UP TO THIS. YOU AND ALL THOSE BASTARDS ON THE BOARD." Eyes searching about the office of the headmistress of Luna Nova until they landed on their intended target, she drank in the pure shock splashed all over the face of one red-headed professor standing in front of the desk in the middle of the room.

"D-Diana?!"

"It was you." She accused, finger pointed right at that figure she had respected and lost respect for so many times. "It was _**you**_!"

There was no response, only the flash of realization in those now-guilty red eyes.

**_"CHARIOT DU NORD."_ **

Diana paraded down the single line that it took to get all up in Chariot's face, slamming both palms down on the table, trapping the older woman there.

"YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED THEM."

"I-"

"YOU USED TO BE A FIGURE I LOOKED UP TO, SOMEONE WHO MADE ME SEE MAGIC AS BEAUTIFUL, A TEACHER I RESPECTED." Diana yelled at her visage, her anger bubbling up into unadulterated fury. "But now..." She took in a deep breath, "YOU’RE PATHETIC AND WEAK.".

Diana knew she didn’t really want to say this. Any of this. She knew it was not the woman’s wish to do this. That it was all in the preposterous plan of that god-forsaken board, and the magic council that suddenly backed up its decisions. She knew the only part Chariot _actually_ had to play in all of this was convincing Akko. Convincing Akko to do just what they wanted. She could only imagine the pressure her former professor had been subjected to, to actually be able to send Akko off into a world of hurt for a second time.

A second time.

And yet... She could have not. She could have decided to go against their wishes, to follow her own believing heart that _knew_ what was going to happen should Akko leave. She shouldn’t have listened to the sugar-coated lies of, _‘she’s the strongest witch in existence; she can handle this quickly, without fail’_.

Because if one person knew so much about Akko and the extent of her capabilities, aside from Diana, it would have been her. Her mentor. This was not lack of confidence in the woman who’d saved the world countless times. This was the love and concern of family.

She could just see the self-condemnation in those bloody orbs. The loathing that Chariot must have directed at herself for sixteen years of failing to protect the student that she'd sworn to shelter from any more pain, someone who was like a daughter to her.

"D-Diana... I-I'm sor-"

Again, those hands slapped against the top glass of the desk, balling into fists as Diana's head dropped, the top leaning against Chariot's chest, almost pressing down on it painfully. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to reign in her emotions. "I know." She whispered. "I know you are..."

"Th-then..."

_**"I just don't want to hear it."** _

And these moments of silence that always came to Diana after her emotions exploded into the open, returned. She hated them. These quiet moments. When Akko was by her side, there was never one. Not even in silence. Because even then, every sound of nature, and magic, and the world was their music.

"...how did you know?"

Somehow that question stabbed wounds into Diana's heart. _'How did she know? HOW. DID. SHE. KNOW?!'_ It was like an implication that she was NEVER supposed to know!

"The board. Who regularly meet up with me. To talk about the search for Akko... they slipped up."

Chariot nodded.

"But you. You knew all along where to find her..." She lifted her head up, now glaring menacingly, freezing over those fiery reds with her cold, icy blue. "And yet you all sent me on this stupid... **STUPID**. Wild goose chase of a search for someone you knew the location of. ALL. THIS. **_FUCKING_**. TIME!"

The headmistress gasped. She'd never heard Diana swear. Never. -But wait. What was it she just said? No, no, no. This was a misunderstanding. She needed to explain. She needed to clear things up.

“Di-”

“What a fool you’ve all made me out to be!”

“Diana, listen-”

“In front of my own daughter, no less! Do you know how unimaginably _painful_ it was to always try to keep her believing with me? When I could barely do so myself?”

**"Diana!** ” She halted the darkness in Diana’s thoughts, if only momentarily. Only to throw them deeper into the light-less void. “I actually don't know where Akko is." She squeaked in her tiniest voice.

" _ **What.**_ "

"The truth is... the only reason that... I ever agreed to ask Akko of this... because... the one who called for her was really..."

" **Who."**

"..."

"Tell me **WHO** , DAMN WOMAN."

_"Woodward."_

...

"Diana?"

"Then send me to her."

"T-to Woodward? Or Akko? But well, only she knows where Akko is-"

“ **THEN SEND ME TO HER.”**

To damned Woodward, to Akko, to anyone, she didn't care one bit anymore, so long as she found out where her precious wife, lost for so long, was. Diana marched for the door, dragging Chariot along by the wrist, behind her. She’d be damned if she sat still with all this knew knowledge.

She would make a move. She’d fly, cross millions of miles; she’d fight even if it meant to the bloody brink of death. All for that tiniest sliver of renewed hope she’d just found, growing ever brighter each step she took closer to her. To Akko.

Akko... she was coming for her.

“ _ **It’s not too late yet.”**_


	12. Go because.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry it's late today!!! I practically missed a day ;-;  
> Anyway... after this, two more chapters to the main run! Do stick around for the last two!!! Please!! Thank you for taking this ride with me! Sorry as well for... a lot of things?? Like how the last chaps are so much longer, and how it all seems like a vague mess (tho vague is on purpose). Things will be explained. Soon. I've been dropping hints to some of your questions, if you haven't noticed.
> 
> Enjoy?
> 
> ~Shintori Khazumi

"What do you mean, 'no new owner' has been chosen yet?"

"It's just as I've said, Akko."

She had wondered what her mentor wanted to discuss, calling her over in such a formal manner for a "conversation" so important and private it seemed. They had moved from the desk of the headmistress' office to a hidden room behind some bookshelves. Akko felt hesitation build up within her, not sure if she wanted to follow her idol down the otherwise dark stairwell, only lit by a few torches along the walls, and spiraling down to the unknown.

But a confident smile and an outstretched hand were all the persuasion she needed. She trusted Professor Chariot. She really did; always had, by the end of it all. So she followed.

Down, down, down. A curve, a bend, a corner. Until they reached a place Akko could've sworn she'd been in before-

**{Hello, Kagari Atsuko. It's been quite some time. You may or may not recall who I am exactly; nevertheless, I have something I must ask of you.}**

"Y-you're... Woodward."

**{Indeed.}**

"The first owner of the Shiny Rod."

**{With that knowledge, there is no need to wait any longer. It is for that exact reason that I have called you. Claiomh Solais. I believe your teacher has already informed you, and that you've met up with the trusted board?}**

Akko nodded. Woodward continued.

**{Every generation, there rises a chosen one, destined to keep ahold of it and maintain a balance in this realm of magic and wonder. The last one was you.}**

Akko's thumb fiddled with the ring around her finger, seeking comfort; something about this did not feel right.

**{You may not know many others who have been blessed with this opportunity besides Chariot, but there was once one child whose talent and affinity for the staff exceeded all who've commanded it to date. This person did wonders, made marvelous breakthroughs, changed magic through her discoveries.}**

"That all sounds amazing." Akko cut in. "But... there's something else... right?"

**{She became addicted to the feeling of the power the Claiomh Solais allowed her to unleash. She began to overuse it, research illegally for ways to possibly integrate that strong magical output into her own magic without need for it. She knew it would have to leave her hands one day.}** Woodward stared at Akko. **{And I believe the reason there is no new handler... is because this 'shiny rod' of yours has somehow ended up in those same hands.}**

"..." Akko didn't know what to say. She could already guess where this was going. She already knew what they wanted her to do. She wanted to help them, help save the world. Really. And yet... "So you want me to get it back? What if she doesn't really have it, this person. Isn't it alright if the rod chooses an owner a little late? Maybe we should let the process run its course, maybe no one worthy appeared this time aroun-"

**{Kagari Atsuko. I am sure of this. And I am sure that you are the only one capable of resolving this. As the former wielder, and as the one who has the closest affinity with the staff right next to the witch in the past. I am also sure that you are afraid.}**

"?! I-" It was almost as if this ghostly form was glaring at her, disappointed that she'd even dare to reject the idea.

Akko felt a hand caress her head. Looking to the side, she saw Chariot's encouraging smile. There was something in her eyes, however, something she couldn't name. Something she did not recognize as the guilt of someone deceiving her despite not knowing what kind of deception she used.

Chariot definitely could not help but believe she was pulling some form of trickery on Akko, a blindfold over the clear vision the woman held. She just couldn’t go against her mentor, however. There was this urgency and desperation in the request she’d received. Things she’d never seen come from the legendary witch in all her years of knowing her. Just what could she do against that?

**{Kagari Atsuko. There is an imbalance in the realm of magic as we speak. Magic is concentrating far too strongly in one area of the world, attracting even more energy to it. I believe this is where we will find what we seek. If the balance is not restored, the world could very much be thrown into discord at any given moment. So tell me. Can you, or can you not do this?}**

Could she? Could she not? It wasn't that simple. It really was not. How long would this take, and how long would she be separated from her family? How far was this place? How dangerous would this be? There were too many things to consider. She was no longer the same reckless, naive child she was then. She could not be selfish in her decisions. She had to think of how those decisions affected the ones she cherished, loved, and swore to protect.

"M-may... may I at least inform my family about this?"

"Akko..." Chariot saw that passion, the honesty and strength of Akko's heart, alongside her worries and fears, and hesitation to take on such a heavy mission. She turned her own hopeful gaze to her mentor, hoping for anything to lighten the burden they were forcing onto Akko.

**{No. You may not. Not yet, at least.}**

"W-why?" Something was definitely not right. What was it about this issue that could not be known to others.

**{Do you love your family, Kagari Atsuko?}** Woodward suddenly asked. Akko was extremely skeptical now, with her question dodged. Still, she nodded an affirmative.

"I love them with all my heart."

**{This is also for their own good. You wouldn't want the world they live in to be destroyed, would you? You would never desire pain, plague, or death to befall them. All these could happen if the Claiomh Solais is not retrieved posthaste.}**

Akko frowned, teeth gritted in frustration. All the more reason to let Diana know then, right? If by chance what was about to occur was something that would keep her away, possibly a lifetime away, shouldn’t she be given the chance to come clean and love and tell Diana with all honesty and transparency in her heart? Because what if... this would be the last...

She knew there was something more to this. They were hiding it. Just _what_ exactly. She understood the reasons as to why she must accept, but at the same time, there should be other ways, right? If more witches knew of this issue, they could band together to solve this problem! They could accomplish it with greater efficiency and surer success. So...

"Why?!"

**{Because.}**

"Because?!"

Woodward's spiritual form began to fade, and Akko could feel her desperate fear build up, the need to be answered so strong. She turned to Chariot for answers, but it appeared as though the woman was also seeking them from her mentor, understanding nothing of it all as well.

"Why... why..." Akko asked the air. Her heart compelled her to go, but her conscience told her she should try to stay, still. But... what it Woodward was right... that this was something only _SHE_ could do. Was this in the name of having as little casualty as possible? Was this... why... was this so difficult... Why... Why... why...

Deep within her, Akko had already decided to go. She did not know why, but she just had to. She just... did she really?

Her heart wavered and shook, uncertain. Lost. She was becoming lost, and she hadn't even left yet.

"Why..." She whispered.

Because.

_**[This is the curse of the bearers of the greatest magic in the world.]** _

And they were yet to know about it.

**{Go.}**


	13. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: damn world-building, explaining chapter. Longest one, I’m sorry.
> 
> Enjoy?
> 
> ~Shintori Khazumi

_What is this light... it’s warm... all encompassing. Familiar._

_She's known it all her life; the touch of that hand, the body embracing her own._

_She knows. She knows._

_This is..._

_"Akko."_

_Tears and the Years that must have passed were all on her face, yet they did nothing to mar the Strength, Passion, Grace and Beauty she owned. Owned alongside Kagari Atsuko's heart. Yes, she knew who this was. This was..._

_**"Diana..."** _

//-//-//-//-//

This was not the sight she'd expected upon arriving at the opposite end of Arcturus, well into another region of the country with how vast the forest spread. It was almost a completely different, unknown place to her, this Arcturus. Or well, this section concealed and rejecting entrance from everyone else but one who had borne the shiny rod. Chariot being able to see it and reach her hand into the barrier was a given, but to know that even having used it but once, Croix and Diana could faintly sense it and pass through as well- it helped dissolve some of Diana's worries, knowing she wouldn't have to enter alone, or not at all, and would miss finding Akko for herself.

Before entering this place, Diana had realized that in all her far-and-wide searching, she had somehow managed to miss this barrier that loomed over all of them at present; Diana, the new Nine, along with Chariot, Croix, and a few well-known witches of their generation. Diana had gathered them after having Chariot take her to Woodward, and realizing many things; one of them being the fact that this problem could have sooner been settled had more people banded together to handle the issue.

Interrogating the entity with all the intimidation her mortal soul could force upon the immortal, Diana gleaned all the information she believed would be necessary to this operation- even if that meant forceful measures such as the threat to perform taboo magic that would erase even a spirit's existence from off the damned planet. She would not stand for Woodward's secrecy. She did not have time for her vague riddles, and answer-less clues. She wanted Akko back, and she wanted her, _**now**_. To hell with curses and prophesies and unforeseen consequences that she had no interest in giving ear to.

There, however, _was_ one thing she'd caught onto. Something in the intricate weave of cryptic excuses the Spirit had concocted for all she'd possibly fooled into doing her bidding.

Diana was no fool.

**"You'll disappear."**

She would have been worried for Chariot who had whipped her head about at such an absurd speed, now blinking owlishly at Diana.

"That's what this is about. Why it had to be Akko, why the person to do this had to be someone who's wielded the Claiomh Solais." Diana stepped ever closer to the spirit, sure of it now. "You've said it yourself. The rod amplifies the magical aptitude of the chosen user. It allows them great feats unlike anything regular witches can perform. Yet, you said it was a curse. Why would something that supposedly strengthens and aides you, be a curse?”

Woodward got no other word in as Diana turned on her heel, mind now aware of everything. So this was it. This was the truth behind the Nine Olde Witches, their tree-like appearances, and their ability to still exist between the mortal and ascended realm; this was the truth behind the Shiny Rod, the ones who held it, and why magic potential had been stunted then, and regained after the missile. It all made sense, the truth behind....

“ _ **Wagandea.”**_

//-//-//-//-//

She couldn't understand why, before, but maybe it was due to the immense magical pressure she could feel seeping through from the other side, possibly weakening the one thing keeping tragedy at bay, that the once invisible barrier was now even more visible. Anyone who could see it now could tell that the wall of magic in front of them was about to give in and break. They had to hurry. All of them; each assigned to do a task to aid in this mission, something that should have been handled by more people than just one sacrificial lamb.

Together. There were things that she could only take on together with everyone else, with the people who had always supported her; family, friends, Akko, who was also struggling inside. Diana knew this. She believed in her and her believing heart that had called for her, reached for her.

She was coming for Akko.

//-//-//-//-//

Wagandea.

They had all believed that it was only a tree. A tree with the ability to take a way one’s magical potential. What had been hidden from common knowledge, however, was that it wasn’t _one_ tree. It was a network. A network connected to a source of magic; that source being the one who possessed the rod. They would be the control point, the center that would collect magic from the world, just as Chariot had done before.

Then it would be stored within the custodian of the rod, giving them a large reserve of magic to use up, to allow them to perform those amazing spells. Again, Chariot was the perfect representation of this.

Then why did the Claiomh Solais have to change owners every now and then?

The answer lay within Woodward. Woodward, the witch she had accused of taking the rod, and the comparison to Chariot du Nord. Woodward had also become a witch greedy of its power, and thus she had turned into something that resembled a tree.

She was now part of Wagandea.

Of course, initially, Diana had believed that this was all speculation on her part; but after meeting Croix who had long since been researching a way to cure Chariot, she had an answer.

Wagandea was initially not supposed to be something that absorbed magic from unsuspecting victims. It was designed to keep the balance of magic in place. Whenever there was an area with too high a concentration in magic, the tree’s far-reaching roots would suck in the excess magic and collect it to be recycled back into the lines.

And Woodward knew this. Yet she wanted to be in ownership of such a massive amount of raw power. But the mortal body could only host so much magic. And Wagandea had a specific function: balance.

Thus, it had no longer identified the woman, known as Woodward, as human. She was now simply an abundance of magical energy to be absorbed and dispersed to the world, to prevent an overflow- an explosion- of magic that could lead to strange, endangering, possibly life-threatening, phenomena.

Woodward now became a part of the Wagandea.

Yet she refused to go down without a fight. Before the rod disappeared from her grasp, she cast a spell on it- to move from one person to another, to continue its function. Now, however, it would not only serve to be a vessel to bring in magic for its user. It would also redirect its collection to the system of the Wagandea trees. This would then serve to sustain their, “life”. Woodward intended for this until she could find some way to separate herself, and take on humanity once more.

-Or that had been the plan at the start, at least. Until she realized that being connected to Wagandea allowed her to tap into all the magical energy she’d ever desired. She would never be mortal again, but she’d achieved her goal. There was no need to fix the aftereffects of greed then. Should someone else have the thirst for limitless magic like her, they’d simply join the Wagandea.

This was the curse she spoke of.

The greed of the keeper of the Claiomh Solais.

//-//-//-//-//

Akko did not deserve this curse, then. This is what Diana believed.

Rather than greed, she had pushed her mortality’s limits and the rod out of the selflessness of her heart to save everyone and everything she loved.

She did not deserve this.

Therefore, Diana would save her and give her what she _did_ deserve. The normalcy of a life she’d missed eighteen years of.

Starting now.

But Diana would be lying if she said she held no resentment towards Akko. The pain and suffering she’d decided to undertake, to inflict on not only herself, but her whole family... Diana thought Akko was better than this. Better than this.

Better than the unrecognizable monstrosity she was shaping into, right before Diana’s eyes.

She saw what she assumed was a large scar running from the top of the left side of her head to the base of her chin, almost covering her entire cheek. Her skin had already taken on a green, glowing hue, limbs still visible, the shiny rod clutched in one of her hands, but with vines and branches wrapping around her, trying to break into her body and skin; some plant appendages entering a large opening in Akko’s abdomen. Despite the color change, large blotches of red were still apparent, an awful stench wafting into her nose. Blood and... something else. Diana felt repulsed, feeling the intense need to regurgitate.

A hand patted her back, and only then had she realized that she was now hunched over, dry-heaving. No, she could not be this weak. Akko was right here in front of her, she was so close to having her back in her arms.So close. Right there. She could simply reach her hand out and she’d feel the softness of her skin, the silk of her hair, and the warmth of her love.

‘ _Be strong, Diana. Be strong.’_

With a spell protecting their hands, the three witches began pulling root and branches that were attempting to consume Akko, away. Diana had been tempted to use Murowa to move things along quicker, but she feared that the tree Akko was embedded in was now so deeply fused with her that she might hurt the woman she loved instead of help her. It was a pain-staking process, but it would be worth it. It would be worth the years.

She’d waited eighteen. What would five more minutes matter?

//-//-//-//-//

_It hurt. It all hurt. She was running out of blood. She couldn’t see herself, and yet she just knew she was._

_She couldn’t feel her stomach. Did she still have one? Didn’t that... whoever... did she just-_

_Her breaths were shallow. She knew she wouldn’t last long. She could feel her consciousness slipping from her desperate fingers, along with the Shiny Rod in her grasp._

‘ _ **Diana... Kotone...’**_

_She wanted to apologize for her selfishness. She wanted hold them one last time... She had wanted to raise and see her daughter grow up. But how could she even dare do such a thing? She couldn’t even tell them she loved them. This... was this the end for her?_

_..._

_**NO!** _

_It couldn’t be. She’d make it back. Kagari Atsuko had a heart that **believed** she’d make it back to them in one piece. _

_Then she could apologize, and hold them, and love them for all eternity_ _and beyond._

_She felt the shiny rod begin to glow in her hand, telling her to cast the spell, aiming it at the enemy before her._

_It’s not too late yet._

_It wasn’t time to give up yet._

_It wasn’t **her** time yet._

“ _ **Diana... I’m coming home now.”**_

_**//-//-//-//-//** _

“ _ **Diana...”**_

She blinked her eyes barely open, drinking in the visage of the woman who was her wife. She felt her touch, could smell her scent. She was real. She was real. And she was _**here**_ _._ With Akko.

“ **Akko.**

_**We’re going home now.** _

_**Because it isn’t your time to say goodbye, yet.”** _


	14. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry this one is kind of long, but I really wanted to end by the second week, so I tried to just... end it with a full-ish chapter.
> 
> Enjoy?
> 
> ~Shintori Khazumi

She looked... foreign. But at the same time terribly familiar. She knew her, and yet she _didn’t_ as she’d never even met her.

Russet strands covered in dust, dried, and with some odd, greenish glow to them (she was sure an explanation would be given in due time); a sweet burgundy that matched her own- it was like looking at her own reflection in the mirror... just that... this reflection was a horrific mess of a copy of her own face- a few years older, and deformed with an ugliness that had its own story to tell- this was what she came face to face with, on a cold sixty-sixth day of her eighteenth year of life.

She almost couldn’t bear to look at that sorry countenance.

She would have asked her mum-voice clear and to be heard by all- who this frightening stranger was. She would have.

And yet... she didn’t have the heart to inflict that kind of piercing pain on the older woman staring right back at her; shock, awe, wonder, hesitation, fear, guilt, longing. She could see them all- the various splashes of emotional color on that otherwise paling face.

A face that angered her. A face her mind resented.

Yet...

* * *

//-//-//-//-//

It was awkward. Excruciating.

Akko stood in front of a girl- _no._ That wasn’t quite right; not anymore.

Dull reds scanned the figure fixed on a spot just below the front steps to the mansion, face contorted with feelings she must have wanted to mask behind nonchalance and trained grace; but failing miserably to hide contempt, or disgust, or whatever it was that Akko assumed the sight of her made her feel.

Still, she was on a mission. A brand new one, assigned to her by none other than the keeper of her heart- her wife. A mission that she just _could not_ fail. Or at least, couldn’t keep failing.

The task? Well, she was currently meeting this _young lady._ For the first time. She looked elegant, raised with as much love and care that a parent could muster on their own. She looked like she had a good head on her shoulders; responsible and intellectual. She had a finely groomed appearance; hair flowing down to mid-waist level, kept neat by a single violet headband; her clothes were modest and elegant, befitting of a bearer of the Cavendish name. She seemed well-mannered enough with how she held back any violent reaction towards someone Akko believed did not deserve to step foot in these premises. Her.

Despite the guilt gnawing into her entire being, Akko found it impossible not to look upon the fair maiden instead of hiding her own nightmare of an appearance. She should be looking down in shame, desperately figuring out how to start this long-due apology. However, all that left her mind as she was spellbound by the one person before her, the _only_ one her eyes could-would see, this very moment.

This girl, this lady, this young woman...

This...

_This was her daughter._

//-//-//-//-//

“ _...ko... Ak... Akko!”_

It was tingly. It was warm. It surged through her body like magic. Magic that was not her own. This feeling so familiar- when had she experienced it before? Ah-

_**Diana.** _

“Akko? Can you hear me, love? Please. Please, respond. Just say my name again one more time. Or anything. Please. I beg of you. Please. Anything to know you are okay.” The desperation was palpable in that voice. “Professor Croix, how do I know this is working? Are you sure this is all I should be doing? What about healing? What if I-”

“No, Diana. Do not do more than I tell you to. Right now, Akko... Akko isn’t in a state that can be fixed by a normal session of healing. This is...” A much older sounding voice paused, hesitant. Akko could only wonder why. “The magic of Wagandea’s system embedded in her will keep her alive for a while, but we _do_ need to figure out a way to extract it in the near future; before that very system withers away.”

“But-!”

‘ _What are they... talking about... I don’t understand.’_

“Diana, please. We don’t have much time to leave this place before the concentration of magic becomes more than _we_ can bear. Having used the rod, we are at risk to inadvertently become the rerouted storage for all this excess energy that the Tree cannot handle to contain anymore. We cannot become like what Akko has started to turn into.”

‘ _What does that mean? Why- what am I turning into? Diana? Diana, why are you crying?’_

“How will we know if she’s okay to be transported then?”

“We will just have to do so, blind.”

‘ _What...?’_

“And if that hurts her?!”

“Diana, you’ll just have to trust me when I say she’ll be better once we leave. Let’s go.”

“But Professor!”

‘ _Don’t cry... Diana. Please, don’t cry. I can’t bear to see you cry. I love you.’_

Akko tried to feel her arms, tried to close her hand, or at least twitch a finger. She needed to let Diana know. She needed to call for her. She needed to respond. Diana. Diana. Diana-

“ _P...lease...”_ Her voice croaked, she sounded like she was dying. Might as well be, right now with how shitty she felt. Still. That seemed to be enough to grab her attention, Diana’s _gorgeous_ blue eyes sparkling with more tears.

“Akko!” She felt herself embraced tight. Warm. At home.

“ _Dia...na... ple...s... don’... c-cry...”_

“Shhh, shhh. It’s alright. You can stop talking now. Please. Stop talking. It’s okay now. You’re okay now. You’re fine now. You’re... You’re perfect. We can go home. We can go home now, Akko.” Diana rambled through her tears, tender salt-kisses pressed everywhere on Akko’s numbed face. “We can go now, professors.”

Akko barely recognized the presence of her two closest mentors. Since when had they been here? No, nevermind that. She wasn’t done with what she was saying.

“ _Di...a... Dian... Diana... list...n...”_

“Akko? Akko! What is it? What is it, Love? I’m here. I’m listening.”

It hurt, her throat. It felt weird. She cleared it. She needed Diana to understand her well, and exact.

“ _Diana...”_

“Yes? Yes, Akko.”

“ _I love you.”_

Oh no. No. This wasn’t what she had intended. She was trying to make Diana _stop_ crying. Not sob all the more. Before she could voice any concern however, she was hoisted into strong arms, loaded on a broom. She saw Diana wipe those tears from her eyes, and as if reading Akko’s hazy mind, replied,

“Don’t worry. I’m simply overjoyed Akko. I love you as well. More than life itself. _I love you_.”

She must be looking like the picture of stupidity right now, but at least she still remembered how to smile. Diana appeared to have remembered too.

Speaking of remembering... wasn’t there something else? Something Akko needed to do? She wracked her muddled brain for- ah.

“ _...I ...w-want t’ see... her.”_ She slurred against Diana’s chest, eyes feeling heavier by the minute. _“Diana... wan... see her... please.”_

She only felt a nod on her head, and a wetness drop on her cheek. Diana knew what it was she was trying to convey. She felt their ride move faster. Faster and faster. Her wish was to be granted.

“ _ **I want to see Kotone.”**_

_//-//-//-//-//_

It was a weird thing to wake up three days into the travel home. The magical carriage they boarded steady rolling along the dirt road.

As soon as she’d opened her eyes, Diana was all over her, smacking her arm lightly, wailing into her shoulder.

Once she’d calmed down, Akko was able to take in many more things with a less-foggy mind. Her two teammates were seated at one end of the carriage, Lotte looking as though she’d replace Diana next with the breathtaking hugs. Sucy had never had as much emotion show on her face until this moment.

Then Croix stole her attention with a comment on how surprised she was at Akko’s state. She was asked questions. How did she feel? Was there still pain? Did she feel drained, or odd, or anything. And if Akko thought about it, she felt better than she had ever in so long. Why was that? Croix hadn’t answered her then, but she was promised an extensive conversation after more urgent matters were settled.

What could be more urgent than information about what exactly was going on right now?

When the carriage came to a stop, and Akko peeked out the glass window, she finally knew. Or she tried to know. Her mind was at a screeching halt once more at what she saw.

And so Diana laid it all out for her. Her mission.

//-//-//-//-//

“...”

“...”

“I-” “You-”

“Oh” “Go ahead-”

“Ah, no you go first.”

“Oh, no, I insist that you-”

“B-but I really think that you have something to-”

“I... maybe, but... I... who... um... introductions... my Mum told me introductions are important and... you go first.”

“I...” She could feel her hands trembling. Anticipation? Anxiety? She didn’t know. She was simply overwhelmed by this... this... _this._ How does one ‘break the ice’, again? Eyes darted back and forth, head whipping this way and that, looking for some kind of aide, a distraction, a bridge for communication. Something. Anything! ‘ _Please, Kami-sama. Send me something. Someone... anyone-’_

The sound of a clanky bell, and a rolling cart.

There! That! That could work! Wait! Stop! She needed-

She spun quickly on her heel towards the main gate they’d just passed through, leaving everyone dumbfounded as she rounded the wall, disappearing from their view momentarily. It made quite a few of them nervous, fearing she’d never return after they just got her back.

Those worries were laid to rest, as barely a minute later and their long-lost brunette marched up to them, some containers in hand. Diana realized what just occurred. It was fairly early in the morning, time for the farmers to pass...

“I-!” Akko yelled accidentally, nerves catching up to her, messing up her motions as she nearly punched a white-filled glass bottle into her very own child’s face. “I... _I heard growing children need milk?!”_

“...”

“...”

Diana was concerned. “Ak-”

But then a bundle of teary, incoherent words suddenly lunged into Akko’s arms, staining her torso with held back sorrow and need. Sure, she could not comprehend a word yet, but she completely understood everything Kotone wanted to convey.

And Akko missed her too. With all of her believing heart.

"You're such an _idiot_." Kotone sobbed, fists hitting her back a few times. ". _..I'm all grown up_."

It hurt. It hurt so much. She knew it, but hearing that truth _killed_ her. To know she's missed _that_ much of her daughter's life.

She felt the girl’s head press against her chest, arms around her waist pulling her ever closer, tighter. She could cry at the realization of what the girl was doing... She was listening to Akko’s heartbeat.

“So this is the sound of Mama’s heart...”

...

And Akko cried.

“ _ **Kotone. You are the sound of my heart.”**_

//-//-//-//-//

“ARE YOU SURE THIS IS SAFE, MAMA?!”

“PERFECTLY!”

“AKKO! STOP LYING! I REMEMBER YOU BREAKING YOUR ARM THE LAST TIME WE-”

“And off we go!”

“ _NOOOOOOO!_ ”

“M-mum! Mum, I can’t- I can’t breathe!”

“Don’t be such a spoil sport, Diana; flying surfboard are always so cool!” Akko cheered, directing their vessel through the air, towards the beach.

“NOT WHEN THE THREE OF US CROWD YOUR TINY-” A pair of lips silenced her own, Akko’s grinning face coming into focus.

“Relax. Don’t be so tense, dear. We’re finally having our long-awaited family bonding time!!! At the beach, no less! You work so hard, it was a struggle to organize this day off, y’know?” Akko pouted, but it immediately vanished at the sight of her daughter nodding enthusiastically in front of Diana. “See? Kotone agrees!” They shared a high-five that Diana could only sigh to.

“Yay!”

“ _Not_ ‘yay!’” Diana chided. Wait a second. “WHO’S DRIVING?!”

“Calm down, Diana! Akko laughed aloud, breeze running through her hair as she manned the wooden board with her body. “What could go wro-”

There was a tree.

“...”

“...”

“You were saying?” Akko only groaned in defeat, face up against the bark.

“Aw, man. Board broke, mama. How do we get to the beach now?” Kotone frowned. None of them seemed to have the common sense to just magic it back into perfection, at the moment. They’d probably realize sooner or later.

“Well, there’s no rush anyway. We can always walk!”

“But it’ll take so long! The time...”

Akko pet her daughter’s head affectionately, gathering their fallen things, as well as her fallen wife on the ground, muttering curses and possibly planning spells to teach Akko important lessons about safety later on. Well...

Turning to Kotone, instead, she smiled, addressing the girl’s concerns.

“Worry not, love. Time is nothing. We have so much day left, and it’s definitely not over yet!”

Just like their story, together now.

It wasn’t over yet.

It’s only just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I’M SORRY, I JUST HAD TO DO THE MILK OKAY?! THE TAGS NEED TO BE PROPERLY USED.
> 
> Awkward ending. I have writer’s block. Sorry. This short fic ended with full-length chapters. I’m sorry. It was hard to just... end it. So... sorry.
> 
> Anyway, welp. That’s it for the main run of “Yet”. Thank you to everyone who stuck around with the daily updates. There will be a few chapters of afterstory to address the blank spaces between plot such as what exactly happened before they got Akko home; what happens to the world of magic now that wagandea, a system akin to bodily homeostasis is gone; what happens to Akko herself after turning into this half-human, half-tree spirit entity; the magic community and the way the Old Nine are seen. But for now, I’d like a break from this to return to my multichapters that I’ve left behind. This was just supposed to be my in-between writing whenever I got stuck with my diakko day piece, but look where it’s brought us all. Hahaha. Frustration and all that. I truly enjoyed this, and I hope you all did too!
> 
> I can also begin to reply to the amazing amount of comments you all left behind! I’m extremely honoured and happy to receive so many feedback!
> 
> Til next time!!
> 
> ~Shintori Khazumi


End file.
